My Version of Dad
by LeytonLaleylover
Summary: In an alternative One Tree Hill universe Peyton and her sister Haley move to Tree Hill and start school there. They both meet Lucas Scott during their first day of school and their lives change for better or worse.
1. Chapter 1

**My Version of Dad**

**Chapter 1**

Looking around the near empty room around her, she places her bag on the bed. Opening the bag she carefully pulls out the Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones t-shirts and lays them out on the dresser nearby.  
"Already planning your outfits for the first week of school I see," Haley says coming into the room."  
"You're just jealous your clothes aren't as cool as mine."  
"Guilty as charged."  
"You'll get better at the whole style thing eventually," Peyton says looking sympathetic towards Haley. "Just don't let anyone here see you in that green hat of yours in the meantime."  
"I'll try my hardest not to boss."  
"Yeah, you got that right. Now why are you bringing your things in here?"  
"Dad told me that he wants us to share this room," Haley says placing her suitcases over by the closet.  
"You have to be kidding me."  
"Sorry, but it's true."  
"Fine I guess I can live with it," Peyton says half groaning. "Just don't mess with my stuff."  
"Yes captain."  
"Okay you little wisenheimer, now just so you know how this works, I get the bathroom first in the morning. You got it?"  
"Yes," Haley says looking defeated.  
"Good, then everything should go just fine than."

Walking down the hallway at school the next morning, Peyton finds her locker in no time. Opening her locker, she places some of the extra things that she brought with her inside it. As she's just about ready to head off to homeroom, a guy comes over and opens one of the lockers nearby. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, she notices that he's listening to rock music on his mp3 player.  
Looking down at her watch as he looks over at her, she realizes that it's almost time for homeroom to start. Throwing her school bag over her shoulder she tries to play it cool. Heading off up the hall she passes by him with ease, until she hears footsteps following her. Coming up beside her as he catches up with her he looks over at her as they walk.  
"You're new around here."  
"Yeah, just state the obvious."  
"Lucas Scott," he says pausing and holding out his hand for her to shake. Pausing in mid step Peyton turns towards him for a moment and shakes his hand. That's odd she thought this isn't exactly the greeting the new kid got. She knew that for a fact, at her old school the new kid usually had to prove themselves before any of the popular crowd would even speak to them.  
"Peyton Sawyer."  
"It's nice to meet you Peyton Sawyer and I hope to see you around."  
"You too," Peyton says looking around at the room numbers. Looking down at her schedule she realizes that she's no longer sure where the room is located. She was pretty sure that she could figure out how to navigate this school with out much of a problem, but she knew she was lost to some extent already.  
"Your room is right down there, last door on the right."  
"Oh thanks, but…"  
"Maybe I'll see you at lunch," Lucas says cutting her off. "Right now I have to head off down that way before I'm late getting to class." Turning to head down the adjoining hallway in the opposite direction she has to go, he looks over his shoulder briefly before heading off to his homeroom.

Later in the day, Haley finding a seat in one of the English rooms sits down. Sitting down across the aisle from her, Lucas looks over at her. Looking over at him as she feels his gaze, she realizes that he has spotted the book that she brought along to read incase she became bored at school that day.  
"I heard a rumor that book's going to be on next summer's reading list."  
"It's never a bad thing to get a head start," Haley says trying to make it sound like it isn't that big of a deal. "Besides if it is, there's one less book I have to read during the summer."  
"That's very true, and you'll have more time to go to the beach with your friends."  
"Yes indeed, but then I'm going to actually buy a new swimsuit this year."

Sitting down behind Peyton in Study Hall, Brooke studies Peyton's notebook. Noticing Peyton, obviously the new girl, Bevin sits down across the aisle from her with Skills close in toe taking the seat across from Brooke.  
"Loser rock," Brooke whispers into Peyton's ear.  
"I like your hair, how do you get it that curly."  
"Really, and I bet it's fake just like the blonde in it."  
"Actually," Peyton says turning around in her seat to face Brooke. "It's naturally curly, and just face it you're jealous that it looks better than yours."  
"Do you want to join the cheerleading squad?"  
"Ignore her question. She has no authority to ask it. Oh, and stay away from my boyfriend while you're at it too."  
"Girl, I think you're delirious. He's not your guy, and he most likely never will be," Skills says looking over at Brooke.

"So Haley," Lucas says as they exit out into the hallway after English. "How about we grab lunch together?"  
"I don't know, I think I might look for my sister first."  
"She'll probably be heading the same way we are."  
"I suppose," Haley says glancing around the hallway. "I'm kind of lost anyway."  
"Come on then, let me be your tour guide."

"Hey do you want to join us for lunch?"  
"Yeah," Peyton says smiling at Bevin. Walking over to one of the tables, Peyton and Haley look at each other as they notice each other. Seeing that Haley was with Lucas, Peyton started to feel kind of weird about the situation at hand. "So how was your morning?"  
"Pretty good, you?"  
"Not bad, but this is kind of odd."  
"Wait you two know each other," Lucas asks looking from one to the other.  
"Yeah, we're sisters."  
"Sisters, but you have different last names."  
"Well we're half sisters," Peyton says giving Lucas a look. "You know different mothers, same father? She just kept her mother's name."  
"Okay, that makes sense." 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Walking up behind Peyton in the hall later, Lucas starts to hum along with the music that's playing on her CD player. Glancing over her shoulder as she notices the humming, she is surprised to see him following along behind her. Turning off her player, she tries to figure out what he could possibly be thinking.  
"Don't look so surprised."  
"Did you forget how lunch went?"  
"That's nothing around here," Lucas says coming up along side her. "Besides I have a half brother."  
"Strange, this is the first I'm hearing of it."  
"So I'm taking it you haven't noticed that I'm not the only guy in our grade that has the last name of Scott then."  
"You're the only Scott I know so far," Peyton says heading over to her car as they exit the school. "I'll ask Haley if she knows of him when I get home though."  
"Why, so you can see if you might like him more?"  
"Not exactly, but I should at least find out something about him right?"  
"I suppose," he says looking away. "You'll probably be hanging around him tomorrow then?"  
"I don't know, it depends what I find out about him. So you're not into Haley?"  
"Wait, what made you think that?"  
"I don't know," she says giving him a look. "How many girls do you invite to eat lunch with you?"  
"Usually not that many, but I was just trying to be friendly. Besides, I think Jake likes her."  
"Maybe sometime we can go on a double date then?"  
"Sure," Lucas says as she gets into the driver's seat. "We'll talk about it again some other time when we both have more time on our hands."  
"I'll talk to you tomorrow then?"  
"Of course, in the morning near your locker."

"So you like Lucas?"  
"I guess," Peyton says looking over at her sister sitting down across from her on the bed. "I don't know him enough to say for sure either way, at least not the way that you mean it."  
"Dad would probably like him."  
"Why would you say that?"  
"Let's see," Haley says happy that for once her sister doesn't know everything. "Because he likes to read Faulkner and so does dad."  
"Who is that if you don't mind me asking?"  
"That writer that dad is always trying to get me hooked on."  
"Okay that could be about any of the writers he talks to you about," Peyton says knowing all too well that this bit of information would be something that she had to remember.  
"Let me clarify, that dead writer that dad loves to read the work of."  
"Oh, that one, you might as well just say I'm as good as in love with Lucas then if it's anything like people like to say."  
"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about," Haley says rolling over onto her stomach.  
"You know, that we as daughters look for guys that remind us of our fathers."  
"Hmm, then who's my version of dad?"  
"You'll have to find that out for yourself I suppose," Peyton says getting up from her bed.

"So you like this new girl, dawg?"  
"I like Peyton, if that's which one you meant by new girl."  
"Oh yeah," Skills says looking a little sheepish. "I forgot for a moment there. There's two new girls, my bad."  
"Why are you bringing it up though?"  
"My dawg actually likes a girl, that's why. That and I just wanted you to know that I'm cool with it."  
"Well that's good," Lucas says as he passes Skills the ball. "Since when did I need your permission though?"

Coming up to Lucas's side in the hall next to his locker the next morning, Peyton pauses a moment before tapping him on the shoulder. Glancing over his shoulder, a smile crosses his face as he spots her standing there. Noticing his reaction, she steps closer to his locker to get a better look at what's inside.  
"So I'm taking it that you didn't hear anything that you liked about him."  
"As it turns out, I didn't even have to ask. That jerk bumped into me this morning in the hallway and didn't even think twice about it."  
"That sounds just like him," Lucas says reaching into the back of his locker behind a bunch of books.  
"Not only that, but his friend there decided to hit on me just for the fun of it. I suppose in an attempt to embarrass me."  
"Hmm, it sounds like they really don't like you. Then again you are a girl so you might get different treatment. By the way, here you go."  
"I shouldn't," Peyton says as Lucas hands her a CD. "Why did you have this in there anyway?"  
"Just incase I met my dream girl one day."  
"Okay, umm…"  
"It was meant as a joke," he says closing his locker. "I used to carry around a CD player before I got my mp3 player, apparently I forgot to take some of my CDs home."  
"Yeah, but you don't want to lend me this CD. Trust me, I may never give it back."  
"That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that it's an import would it?"  
"Of course," she says smiling at him. "I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it but it's one of the few I don't already have."  
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. If you don't bring it back it's fine."  
"I guess you could always come over and listen to it."  
"Sounds good to me," he says as they head off to class.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Nice drawing," Lucas says coming up behind Peyton in the library. "May I sit here?"  
"Last time I checked it's a free country. Thanks, but I've seen better."  
"Where in the ghetto?"  
"Oh sarcasm," she says as he sits down next to her. "No, but my stuff would look more impressive put up next to it."  
"Well it's the best I've seen around here, so you don't have to be so modest."  
"Really? That's rather disappointing."  
"I guess," he says looking unsure. "You don't mind if I catch up on my reading do you?"  
"Knock yourself out, just don't act out the parts."  
"Don't worry I won't even try."  
"By the way nice shirt," Peyton says looking over at him and smiling. "I didn't know you were on the team though."  
"It's something I try not to mention that much."

Walking out to the parking lot, Peyton heads over to her car. As she gets closer to her car, she notices that there's oil dripping out onto the pavement forming a puddle. Looking around she spots Brooke sitting nearby in the driver's seat of her car. Walking over to Brooke's car, she bends down slightly.  
"So I'm guessing you're paying to have that fixed for me."  
"Why? I didn't do it," Brooke says trying to play innocent.  
"Last time I checked you're the only one around here that has any motive to sabotage my car like that."  
"Well, have a nice walk home. By the way, Lucas is going to a concert with me tonight."  
"Just out of curiosity, which concert would that be," Peyton asks as Haley heads out of the school.  
"We're going to see Beyonce perform tonight. Now if you don't mind I need to get home to get ready."  
"Have a good time at the concert."  
"I didn't know you two were friends," Haley says coming over as Brooke's car is almost out of view.  
"We're not."  
"Then why did you tell her to have a good time?"  
"Because I know she's full of it," Peyton says as she walks back over to her car. "Now I just have to figure out how we're going to get home."  
"Did she do that?"  
"Of course she did."

"Why don't you just tell your son to quit the team already?"  
"So you can think you own everything in this town," Karen says looking up at Dan disgusted. "I wouldn't stand for that, and neither would anyone that really knows you."  
"Say what you want, but my kid isn't the one that looks like a fool out there."  
"It's nice to know that you've noticed his talent. For a moment there I swore you forgot that your name is on the birth certificate."

Looking down at his cell phone, after practice, as it rings Lucas looks at it confused. As he answers it, Nathan starts to walk over towards him. Finishing the call, Lucas turns to head out of the gym.  
"Who was that, your girlfriend?"  
"No, that was our uncle. He said to tell you to get over yourself, and for you to pass that message onto Dan while you were at it too."  
"Alright I've been a jerk lately," Nathan says looking apologetic. "What's new?"  
"Not much, but I thought you would at least be nicer to a pretty girl."  
"Oh her, she looked too much like your type. I thought I was doing you a favor."  
"Really," Lucas says skeptical. "Or did you just do it to annoy me and piss her off?"  
"It's more like all of the above."

"Can you give us a ride?"  
"Yeah, let me just have a look at your car first," Lucas says walking past her and over to her car. Spotting the pool of oil under her car, he knows he has to take it to the garage. "Who did you piss off now?"  
"Some cheerleader that thinks that you're her boyfriend."  
"Dark hair to about here, dimples, and designer label clothes…"  
"That sounds about right," Peyton says watching him as he walks away from her and the car. "Aren't you going to give us a ride?"  
"Just give me a little and I'll be right back."  
"Well I guess we can wait another hour or two without food or water."  
"I do wish that I had some money to use at the vending machine right now," Haley says coming over to Peyton's side. "He said he'd be right back though."  
"Be right back by guy standards could mean in a couple hours or more. I don't think we should pass up any rides home if someone asks. Otherwise, we might be here all night."  
"At least the tow truck is here now."  
"Great," Peyton says as Lucas gets out of the tow truck. "Why didn't you just tell me that you were going to tow it?"  
"I thought you wouldn't believe me. I mean, how many high school students drive tow trucks?"  
"You're the first that I've met."  
"By the way," he says gesturing for her to give him the keys to the car. "I'll have to charge you more for putting up with your attitude."  
"Oh really, is there anyway to change your mind about that?"  
"I don't know it depends."  
"See," Haley says giving Peyton a look. "This is why dad always tells you to leave your attitude at home when he's around."  
"He sounds like a smart man."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Again," Peyton says coming up to Lucas in the shop. "Is there anyway to change your mind about the extra charge?"  
"Like I said it depends."  
"Great, my dad's just going to love this."  
"Of course," Lucas says looking her over. "I'm sure I could think of some way for you to change my mind."  
"You pig."  
"Fine I guess when I get done with your car you'll just have to pay more then."  
"I guess so," she says throwing him a dirty look as she heads out of the garage.

"You just had to go that low didn't you?"  
"Like you should talk," Brooke says looking up at Nathan. "You bumped into her and didn't give a care."  
"Yeah, but see I didn't intentionally bump into her.  
"Whatever. Besides how did you even find out?"  
"I saw him towing her car," Nathan says sitting down behind her on her bed. "If anything you just pushed them closer together."  
"Wait, your uncle lets him tow cars?"  
"You mean you've never seen the tow truck parked in the back parking lot?"  
"No I haven't," she says leaning back against him. "I never look out at that lot."

"Hey gorgeous," Lucas says knocking on the girls' bedroom door."Who let you in?"  
"Your sister did, besides I thought I'd come by with your car. You know, so that you would have it to drive to school tomorrow."  
"Oh," Peyton says walking over to him from where she was standing in the closet. "I'm guessing you don't do this for every girl."  
"You would be correct about that."  
"I'm sorry."  
"It's alright," Lucas says handing her the keys to the car. "I think we still need to talk about that extra charge though."  
"About that…"  
Before she can continue on, Lucas leans in and kisses her gently on the lips. Leaning into the kiss Peyton pushes her lips up against his as he caresses her cheek with his hand. Reaching up and placing her arms around his neck, she pulls her lips away slightly and then pushes them up against his once again.  
"Okay, eew, remember that I have to live in this room too."  
"Now I'm sorry," Lucas says breaking off the kiss. Haley looking relieved by his action heads over to the closet.

"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing," Brooke says laying in bed naked next to Nathan. "Why would you think something's wrong?"  
"You weren't as feisty as you usually are."  
"I just have been wondering…"  
"Wondering about what?" The fact that Brooke was wondering made Nathan anxious.  
"Nate, I'm late."

"I'm sorry I gave you so much attitude earlier."  
"It's okay," Lucas says kissing her. "I can take it, besides it's kind of hot."  
"Oh yeah, so that turns you on?"  
"I wouldn't go that far."  
"I promise that I'll try to keep it to a minimum from now on," Peyton says hugging him. "It'd loose it's appeal after awhile anyway."  
"You're right it would. I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Yeah, and maybe next time you take a girl's car to her you might want to tow it."  
"I'll try to remember that," he says as she turns to head to her car. "Then again, I'm sure you liked driving me home."  
"Yeah, I did. It's not often that I get to drive a guy somewhere. I'll see you tomorrow. Well unless you like Beyonce."  
"Beyonce, are you serious? I mean she's hot, but her music come on."  
"I thought so," she says in return, his face still scrunched up. "I just had to make sure. At least I'm sure you weren't planning on going to that Beyonce concert now."  
"Brooke?"  
"Yeah, I'm guessing you know about…"  
"…Brooke having a thing for me. Yeah, I've known about that. She's been like that for the longest time. I just try not to pay attention to it," Lucas says giving her a smile. "I wish she would just get it through her head that I don't feel the same way."  
"You would think that she would of figured that out by now. Anyway, I better get heading back home."  
"Yeah, I'll see you."

Walking out to his car in the morning Lucas hears a car coming up the street. As the car comes to stop in front of his house and honks the horn he turns to see who it is. Spotting Peyton sitting in the driver's seat he heads over to her car.  
"So you just can't stay away now can you?"  
"Truthfully, no I can't."  
"Well I guess I could ride with you girls," Lucas says opening the passenger side door. "So Haley are you caught up on your reading?"  
"Of course, It wasn't that hard to do. It's not like half of the people in our class actually know what they're talking about half the time anyway."  
"Well this is the second year I've had Mr. Jones for one of my English classes, and trust me he pays attention to those sort of things."  
"Alright," Haley says nodding her head. "I'll keep that in mind."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Coming into his room Lucas heads over to bed in his pajamas. Opening up the drawer in his nightstand he places his wallet inside. As he goes to pull back the covers on his bed a knock comes at his door. Heading over to the door he opens it to find Nathan standing there with his roll bag.  
"Can I come in?"  
"Yeah," Lucas says gesturing for him to come in. Closing the door behind Nathan, he watches him closely. He knew something had to be up if Nathan was at his house. They were far from good friends and Nathan had never been over to his house before.  
"Oh, stop watching me like a hawk already. I just need a place to stay for the night that my parents won't expect me to be at."  
"So I'm just suppose to let you stay here and cover for you even though you've been pretty much an ass to me for as long as I've known you?"  
"Look," Nathan says looking Lucas right in the eyes. "My mom's back in town and my parents are fighting over who should and shouldn't have custody of me even though they're not actually getting a divorce yet. Heck I hardly doubt they realized I left the house yet, but when they do I don't want them to be able to find me."  
"Fine you can stay, but you better not steal or ruin any of my belongings."  
"That's fair enough."_  
Coming into Lucas' bedroom Karen spots Nathan laying on the floor. As she walks over to where he's laying down he rolls over as she nears. Looking up at her he realizes that it's not going to be the same reaction he's been getting from her.  
"Alright Nathan it's been about two weeks and I've been very patient and understanding about things, but it's by time you deal with things."  
"I know, I've been hoping that you wouldn't kick me out for a couple more days."  
"Well if you ever need to talk or anything you don't have to feel like a stranger," Karen says handing him his clean laundry.

"Hey," Peyton says as she sees Lucas come out of the house. "So is Nathan tagging along again today?"  
"Yes. Is that going to be a problem?"  
"Not really, but if he tries to change the station on my radio again it's not going to be pretty."  
"Well," Lucas says getting into the front passenger seat. "If it helps any, I think he got the idea not to last time."  
"Alright, but we have to get going soon if we're going to make it to school on time."  
"Be quiet back there bookworm."  
"At least I didn't half fail English class last year," Haley says throwing Peyton a look. "Of course than maybe it's a good thing you have a studious boyfriend now."  
"The only reason I got that close to failing is because I wasn't that interested in what was being covered."  
"Yeah, I'm sure that wasn't the case."  
"Either way," he says kissing Peyton on the cheek. "I'm more than willing to help you out."  
"Don't mind me, I just had to clear my stuff out of the house."  
"Aw, Karen kicked you out?"  
"Yeah," Nathan says getting into the back seat. "I'm really going to miss hanging out with all of you."  
"Don't worry I won't."  
"See, I told you she was your type."  
"I can't help it if women with a mind of their own frighten you." Looking back at Nathan, Lucas gives him a look. "You just like the ones that will just give in without any thought."  
"Maybe you're right, and maybe you're not."

"Hey, are you coming to the party tonight?"  
"Yeah," Nathan says looking over at Tim as they walk through the hall. "I'll do almost anything right about now to get out of the house."  
"You will probably need to bring a girl along."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Man," Tim says smiling. "I actually found a date."  
"Now this I have to see."

Hearing someone calling her name in the hall after school Haley looks around. Spotting Nathan walking towards her she considers that he's probably just being nice considering that Peyton is giving him a ride home. As see notices that his hands are shaking a little she realizes that's not the case.  
"Just ask me already," Haley says as Nathan looks around nervous. Fidgeting with his back pack strap his palms start to sweat.  
"Would you… umm… like to… umm… go to a party with me tonight?"  
"Of course I would. Now was that hard?"  
"I'm usually not like this," he says relieved.  
Slipping her hand into his, she starts to walk with him out to the car. Looking over at her, he wonders if she noticed how sweaty the palms of his hands were. Sensing his worry she starts to message the back of his hand with her other hand.  
As they reach the car, Lucas notices that they're holding hands as he goes to get into the car. Realizing that he has noticed Haley squeezes Nathan's hand as to show that it's for real. Squeezing her hand back in return, Nathan sees that Lucas is watching them. Looking across the front seat, Peyton notices what the deal is.  
"First of all," Peyton says turning around to look at Nathan as he closes the rear passenger side door. "You know that I don't care for you all that much. Secondly, if you break her heart you'll be sorry."  
Giving her a look as if to tell her that she's out of line, Haley looks at Peyton in disbelief. How could Peyton be doing this to her now. Hadn't they agreed that Haley was old enough to take care of herself? Clearly she could, she thought. She didn't need Peyton looking after her like a babysitter or a chaperone.  
Changing her gaze over to Haley, Peyton looks her straight in the eyes. Becoming uncomfortable with her older sister's gaze Haley slouches down in the back seat. Knowing very well that she's won the battle Peyton turns towards the front of the car. Turning the key in the ignition the car starts up and some classic Bon Jovi starts to blast out of the speakers.  
Looking as if he's half tormented by this, Nathan figures he's better off not mentioning his music preferences to Peyton. In the past weeks she had made a point as a good hostess to let him pick the music for the ride home. Today though he knew her action was a way of letting him know that she had the upper hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Are you ready for your first party?"  
"As ready as I'm ever going to be," Haley says looking up at Nathan outside Tim's house. Just promise me that you won't leave without me."  
"Yeah alright."  
Heading into the house side by side, the two of them make their way into the living room. Looking around the room they spot Tim and his date acting chummy. Making their way over to them Nathan starts to get nervous. _What the hell was I thinking?_  
"Dude, you brought her?"  
"Yes," Nathan says nervously putting his arm around Haley.  
"That's so messed up."

"So finally we get some time alone together in private."  
"Yeah," Lucas says sitting down on Peyton's bed. "It's nice not to have them around for once."  
"How about we have a little fun? We haven't done that in awhile."  
"You make that sound like a lot more than it is. You do realize that?"  
"Well," Peyton says sitting down next to him. Leaning into him she kisses him on the lips. Pulling away and looking into his eyes, she runs her hand through his hair. "In that case I'm sorry."  
Putting his arms around her and pulling her close Lucas runs his finger across her lips. Kissing him on the lips again she presses her lips against his time after time. As she runs her hands across his abdomen and under his shirt, he starts to become alarmed. He pulls away as she goes to lift up his shirt. Backing away as she gets up from the bed, she looks puzzled and embarrassed.  
"I'm sorry. Was I going too fast?"  
"Yeah, you kind of were. We've been going out for awhile, but I don't think we should be doing that yet."  
"I guess I'm just not use to being in a relationship like this."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well," she says trying to think of how to say what she was going to say. "I did have a boyfriend at my old school for awhile, but it was never like this. We never had this kind of connection. He was a really nice guy, but we didn't really connect on too many levels."  
"I get it, and you shouldn't be embarrassed. You were just acting on your feelings."

"I can't take this anymore."  
As they watch Tim and his gorgeous date make out Nathan gets up and leaves the room. After he leaves her there sitting on the couch, Haley looks around the room. Coming over towards her Bevin sits down next to her.  
"You should really ask your sister to join the cheerleading squad," Bevin says looking over at Haley.  
"Why would she want to be in the squad? Her and Brooke don't get along last time I checked."  
"You didn't hear that Brooke will have to quit I'm guessing."  
"I heard no such thing," Haley says looking at her in disbelief. "Isn't there a whole protocol for that sort of thing though?"  
"Not really right about now. Besides, I have a feeling that your sister could really take over Brooke's spot."  
"Why would you think that?"  
"She just seems like someone that the girls would really like and would listen to. Besides she's pretty cool," Bevin says smiling.

"I just feel so stupid," Peyton says looking across the room at him as she sits in her computer chair.  
"Look, we both feel the same way about each other. It's just that sex changes things a lot, and we need to make sure that we're ready for it when we do end up doing it."  
"Yeah, and I guess it's going to be awhile before we do that."  
"Probably," Lucas says looking understanding. "How about I take you up on that offer to listen to that CD now?"  
"You know what, that's actually a good idea."  
"I thought it would be."  
"Well," she says getting up out of her chair. "Just let me get it."  
"Alright, but if you need help finding it just let me know."  
"Yeah right, I don't think we're going to do that. That wouldn't make any sense after what just happened."  
"Right," he says agreeably. "Well I suppose if you can't find it we'll just have to wait to listen to it some other time."  
"There's no need for that."  
Coming out of the closet about a moment later she holds the CD up to show him that she has found it. Making her way over to the stereo she places the CD inside. Smiling at each other they look into each others eyes for a moment. Becoming slightly uncomfortable Lucas looks away first.

"So this party hasn't been that bad has it?"  
"No," Haley says as Nathan hands her a drink. "I don't really drink alcoholic beverages though."  
Looking at her momentarily he doesn't seem to understand why she doesn't want to drink the cup of beer. Throwing him a look she gets the message through to him. Handing him the cup he takes it and places it down on the table nearby next to his cup as he goes to sit down.  
"I guess we don't have that much in common."  
"I just don't need to do something illegal to have fun."

"That was one hell of a CD," Peyton says kissing him for a moment as they wait in the hallway downstairs for Haley to come home. "It's getting late. She should have been home about an hour ago."  
"Relax, I'm sure they'll be here soon enough."  
"Why have you ever been to one of these parties?"  
"Once," Lucas says looking a little weird. "I didn't have the greatest time."  
"I bet you didn't. I mean they can't be much different than the ones that I use to get suckered into going to, and trust me those parties were a bore."  
Hearing a car pull up to the front curb, they fall silent. Going over to the window Peyton peeks out to see who it is. Seeing that it's Nathan bringing Haley home she starts to relax. While their dad wasn't around she was responsible for her sister and if anything happened to her she would feel horrible.  
As the two of them head up the walk towards the house she notices as Haley slides her hand into Nathan's. Haley seemed to really like him. She had never seen her sister get so close to a guy like this before and she started to wonder what Haley could possibly see in him. Motioning for Lucas to open the door as they step foot onto the porch Haley throws a look at Peyton watching from the window.  
"You didn't even get us a chance to have a nice moment on the porch," Haley says as she storms into the house and over to Peyton. "I let you have your romantic moments with your boyfriend enough where you could at least give me the same opportunity."  
"When dad leaves you in charge then you can complain about it. Until then you'll have to deal with it."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sitting at a table in the library Lucas reads as Peyton draws. Seeing them doing so Brooke starts to walk over towards them. As she reaches the table Peyton looks up at her. Heading over to where Lucas is sitting Brooke leans over looking at him and then at Peyton.  
"You know it's funny," Brooke says throwing Lucas a look. "It seems like we were hooking up yesterday, and now you don't even care about me."  
Looking at Brooke with her eye brow raised Peyton can't help but pay attention to what she's saying. With the look of concern and discomfort on Lucas' face she is reassured that there is some truth to what she is saying. It didn't help matters that he was the one that didn't want to have sex the previous night, which with this new revelation made her think that perhaps this had something to do with that.  
"Yeah Blondie you have that right, we slept together. Guess what else?"  
Getting up from the table Peyton grabs her things. Looking at her extremely apologetic Lucas watches her as she walks over towards him and Brooke. Throwing a look at him Peyton then changes her focus to Brooke.  
"You can have him all to yourself. I don't need him, especially if he can't be upfront with me. Have a happy life together."  
"Peyton," Lucas says starting to get up from the table as she takes off away from the table. "I can explain."  
Turning around to face him she looks at him in disbelief.  
"What could you possibly explain? You slept with her and you didn't even consider telling me about it. We're done Luke, we're through."  
Looking devastated as he watches her leave the library Lucas can't deny that she was right. Reaching for his arm Brooke takes hold of it. Guiding him back over to the table she guides him to his chair.  
"You don't need her. I can take just as good care of you if not better than her."

"You obviously don't consider that I could charge you for kidnapping," Deb says coming into the café.  
"First of all I wasn't holding him against his will. Secondly he came to my house out of his own desperation to get away from the drama that was going on at your house. If I hadn't insisted on finally kicking him out he would of never left."  
"Well you had no right to let him stay."  
"In all fairness," Karen says walking over to Deb. "He was probably safer at my place then he would have been at yours at the time. Also, I would appreciate it if you would leave. This conversation is over."

Coming up to Haley later in the hallway Brooke taps her on the shoulder. Turning to see who it is Haley's surprised to see who it is. Not too surprised by Haley's reaction Brooke gives her a smirk.  
"I've been hearing about how you went to the party with Nathan last night."  
"Oh," Haley says becoming anxious. She knew that he was popular, but did that automatically make her popular?  
"Yeah, and see here's the thing while you two were at the party having a good old time I was home all alone and miserable. That normally wouldn't be a problem, but considering that I told him that I was late this month that makes it a little different this time."  
"So that doesn't mean it's his."  
"True, but I've only slept with two guys in the past three months and he's one of them. Also considering that he's the one that I've slept with the most, the odds of it being his are pretty good."  
"Well I think Nate would tell me if he had a relationship with you and he didn't so I'm just going to assume you're making this all up."  
"Perhaps you should ask him while you have the chance," Brooke says as Nathan makes his way over to where they're standing. "I already know the answer though."  
"The answer to what?"  
"The answer to nothing. I trust you to tell me what I need to know."  
"Yeah imagine that," Brooke says making a face. "On the other hand I would happen to know that you're rather good in bed."  
Trying his hardest not to react Nathan continues to look at Haley. Catching onto the slight reaction that he couldn't stop from happening she knows that she thought wrong. Feeling disappointed she glances over at Brooke quick and then looks back over to him.  
"I should of known it was too good to be true."

"Hey," Lucas says walking up to Skills in the hallway. "I kind of have a problem."  
"What do you mean dawg?"  
"Brooke's pregnant and she says that it's mine."  
"Yeah well I think you should reconsider how accurate the source is about her information," Skills says gesturing over to where Brooke and Nathan are standing a ways down the hall. "Haley took off earlier, she didn't look too happy."  
"That's strange, I mean she seemed pretty sure about it earlier."  
"Well I think there might be more than one possibility for who the baby's father is."  
"I think I'll wait until she takes off to talk to him," Lucas says keeping an eye on Brooke and Nathan. "If it is what you're thinking I'd rather make sure that it's that without alerting her I'm onto her."  
"That sounds like a smart idea dawg. That girl can be really sly, and who knows how she'd spin that one to make it look like she did nothing wrong."  
Seeing Brooke kiss Nathan on the cheek and then head off towards the parking lot Lucas waits until she's out of view before he heads over to talk to Nathan. Coming up to Nathan he lets him see that he's there. Noticing Lucas, Nathan becomes alert that something's up. That's always how it worked, something had to be up for them to be willing to talk or confide in each other about something.  
"So what was Brooke talking to you about that would piss off Haley?"  
"Look man," Nathan says starting to get defensive. "It happened before I even thought about going out with Haley alright?"  
"Hey, I just want to know what she was talking to you about."  
"She said that she's pregnant and that the baby's mine."  
"That would figure," Lucas says looking satisfied to some extent. "You might want to take into consideration that you're not the only one that she told that to today."  
"She played us?"  
"Yeah, and twice at that."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"So are you going to stay mad at me forever or do you find the past week to be a good enough punishment?"  
"Forever sounds good," Peyton says turning around and throwing Lucas a dirty look.  
"In all fairness I didn't do anything wrong here. I could of, but I didn't."  
"Oh really? So apparently my feelings getting hurt because you couldn't wait long enough to figure out that she was pregnant isn't your fault. Is that right?"  
"I still don't know if the baby's actually mine," he says working on the defensive. "Besides, it's not like we went too far."  
"What do you mean you don't know if the baby's yours?"  
"You know it's kind of sad that the brothers that can hardly stand each other most of the time share notes on things like this and the sisters that are like each other's best friends don't."  
"I knew I didn't like him," Peyton says starting to turn a light shade of red. "That's why she's not talking to him?"  
"Yeah, and trust me we don't like the situation anymore than you girls do considering the circumstances."  
Thinking it over Peyton starts to wonder if there's actually a correct way to go about handling the situation now that she knows more of the truth. Clearly the baby could belong to either one of the guys. They wouldn't know which one was the father for months, and she didn't want to ruin her chances with Lucas incase he wasn't the father. The place that this all put her in wasn't an easy one by far.  
"I'm sorry, I suppose you did the best you could."  
"Yeah I did," Lucas says looking her right in the eyes. "I didn't want to hurt you, and I feel horrible."  
"Well you should."  
Knowing that was her own little way of letting him know that he was let off the hook as far as she was concerned he felt relieved to a certain extent.

"Hey," Peyton says coming over to Bevin in the hallway later that day. "You wouldn't still be looking for another cheerleader would you?"  
"Of course we are. Brooke made one heck of a bad name for this squad around school."  
"Well then I guess I'm all yours."  
"Great," Bevin says as a gigantic smile crosses her face. "We have practice tomorrow after school."  
"That sounds good to me."  
"So you'll really be there?"  
"Yeah," Peyton says placing her hand on Bevin's shoulder and looking at her. "I'll be there."

Heading into the girls' bedroom that afternoon after school Peyton watches as Haley plays darts on the far side of the room. She couldn't help but laugh at Haley. Her little sister never really had the greatest coordination and had an even worse aim when it came to darts. Haley was just in reality creating holes in the wall every time. Even her anger didn't help her aim, which was funny considering that Haley herself had attached a picture of Nathan's face that she had found to the dart board.  
"Alright," Haley says turning to face Peyton after she throws the last dart. "I know I suck at darts."  
"Yeah, well I know something we both stink at."  
"What would that be?"  
"Relationships with guys," Peyton says letting out a little laugh.  
"Actually I think you're wrong about that."  
"Why because you're pissed at Nathan for having slept with Brooke and possibly being the baby's father?"  
"Umm… ," Haley says looking baffled as to how Peyton knew that. "How did you find out about that?"  
"Well let's just say I was pissed at Lucas for the same thing until today."  
"That little…"  
"I know," Peyton says cutting her little sister off. "So are you going to forgive Nate?"  
"Yes, but I don't want to get back with him."  
"I thought you liked him."  
"I don't like him that much," Haley says walking over to the nightstand on Peyton's side of the bed. "Do you remember when this was taken?"  
Looking over at the picture Haley's looking at Peyton nods her head. It was a picture that their dad had taken just a few months before they moved to Tree Hill. She knew what Haley was trying to get at. Peyton hadn't minded the move here, but Haley had to leave a lot more behind emotionally. In fact she hadn't seen Haley really smile like she use to since they had gotten here.  
"You're still not over him, huh?"  
"Yeah, I bet you think I'm pathetic."  
"No I don't," Peyton says hugging Haley. "You just need to go back there and see him again."

"I was thinking that maybe you could do me a favor," Peyton says to Lucas as he comes out of the locker room after practice the next day. "You know to make up for that whole mess…"  
"What kind of favor?"  
"Like helping drive for part of this mini road trip I'm going on with my sister this weekend."  
"Yeah alright," Lucas says smiling at her a little. "That sounds like a good excuse to take a day or two off from work for."  
"I was hoping that's what you would say. We'll come and pick you up in the morning on Saturday then?"  
"Okay, but where are you going if you don't mind me asking?"  
"We're going back to the old hometown," she says uncertain of what he'll think about it. "Someone hasn't quite gotten over leaving there yet."  
"Well then at least I'll get to know your other friends right?"  
"I suppose so."  
She hadn't thought of that possibility before now, and she liked how he had brought it up. It showed that he was genuinely interested in her even if they weren't together. There wouldn't be any need for her to be afraid of him meeting her friends either in her mind.  
"Well I'll see you then," he says as they head out of the gym. Pausing as he thinks of something he turns to face her. "By the way it's kind of nice to not have a cheerleader on the sidelines during practice staring at me like she wants to jump my bones after practice."  
"Anytime…"  
Looking down and away she blushes a little. She knew he was flirting even if it wasn't what he should have been doing. It was nice and she didn't mind the way that he did it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Come on we need to hit the road soon," Peyton yelled up the stairs after looking at the time. They were running behind schedule thanks to Haley's anxiety over seeing Adam again. The thing that had gotten to Peyton was her sister's need to impress him. It wasn't like she was meeting him for the first time. She had only dated him for four years, and that was a lot considering how old they were.  
"I'll be down soon, I promise."  
"You better or else…"  
"Am I in the right house?" Lucas looks at Peyton with a dead serious look on his face as he comes into the house. Looking over at him and seeing the face, she's starts to laugh. Starting to laugh himself he walks over closer to her. "This is so typical."  
"Yeah, I'm sorry about this. I really should of planned for it."  
"It's alright."  
"Hurry it up," Peyton yells up the stairs. "He's here!"  
"Now girls fight nice."  
"Oh you shut it."  
"Alright already! I'm ready to go now," Haley says appearing at the top of the stairs as Peyton playfully hits Lucas. Grabbing his arm and holding it he acts as if Peyton had hurt him.  
"Ouch, you sure hit hard for a girl."  
"Now that's just ridiculous. There's no way I could of hurt you."  
"You're right," he says tickling her. "You hit like a girl."  
"Well I am one you know?"  
"Yeah I know."  
Tickling her again he causes her to back away from him. Going in for another tickle attack she starts to run away from him. Chasing after her, he chases her out to the car. Trying to fend him off she slaps at his arms. "Stop it right now," she half yells at him.

Driving into town with her hair freely blowing in the wind and the music blasting Peyton looks over at Lucas sitting shot gun in the passenger's seat. "So this is our other home," she said smiling at him. "There's Joe's general store." Gesturing to their right as she takes her right hand off of the steering wheel a mischievous smirk crosses her face. "My friend Jen helped me half torment a couple of the guys that are regulars there not long before we left town. I wonder if they remember me?"  
"I'm sure they do."  
"Yeah, I was leaning towards that possibility."  
Pulling over to the side of the road a little further down the street Peyton parks the car. "This isn't what we planned," Haley said giving Peyton a look. Pointing towards one of the trees in the park nearby, Peyton gives Haley a look back in return. "Oh… that looks like Adam and the guys."  
"It sure does."  
"Is that a girl going to kiss that one guy?"  
"Umm… ," Peyton says glancing back at Haley as she realizes what Lucas is bringing to her attention. Seeing that her sister was clearly upset by the whole situation she wonders what she should do. Before she can make a decision Haley starts balling her eyes out.  
"That's the ex then I'm taking it."  
Looking at Lucas through the rearview mirror Haley nods her head as streams of tears run down her cheeks.

"How is she handling it now?"  
"Not really all that much different than she was earlier," Peyton said sitting down on the bed in the hotel room. "I think we'll have to buy more tissues for her in the morning."  
"I guess that's one thing we didn't plan on really needing."  
"Yeah well I guess it didn't nearly take him half the time that I thought it would to get over her."  
"What are we going to do about the sleeping situation anyway?" Lucas knew that they both needed a change of topic, and it was something that he was wondering about. They had gotten down sized to a room with only one bed and he wanted to know if he was going to be sleeping on the floor.  
"As long as you don't try to get lucky tonight you could probably sleep on the bed with us."  
"Uh huh… I wasn't thinking about doing that, but apparently you were."

Feeling someone leaning over him Lucas wakes up. Looking to see who it is he finds Haley staring at him with sleepy tear filled eyes. Glancing over towards the nightstand on the other side of the bed he realizes that she ran out of tissues once again.  
"I'll go get some more," he says reaching for his wallet.  
Mouthing 'thanks' to him as he goes to get out of bed she feels really bad about having had woken him up for it. Watching as he heads towards the door she rests her head down on the pillow.  
Looking up as Lucas comes back a little while later, she's relieved when she sees the box of tissues he's carrying. Sitting down on the bed, he hands the box to her and gives her a hug.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Waking up as she hears a knock at the door of the hotel room, Peyton rolls over to find Haley half sleeping on Lucas on his side of the bed. She knew that she had been really tired the night before, but didn't think she had been tired enough for all of that to happen without her knowledge. It made her feel like a bad older sister the more she thought about it.  
Getting up off the bed trying not to wake them from their sleep she runs her hands through her hair in a small attempt to tame it as she walks over to the door. She really didn't know who could be at the door considering this was far from being a well planned trip. Looking out into the hallway through the peak hole she found Jen standing there half beaming. Opening the door she wondered how Jen had found out they were in town.  
"Don't look so surprised Peyt," Jen says as she walks into the room. "The guys at the general store informed me that they thought my partner in crime was in town. Besides it's not like there's that many places you could be staying in this town other than my house."  
"Well I know your mom's policy about people she doesn't know."  
"So it's not just you and Haley then?"  
"I brought a second driver along," Peyton says moving out of Jen's line of sight so she could see Lucas laying there on the bed.  
"Damn, that town sure has some hot boys. No wonder why I haven't heard that much from you two since you left. I don't blame you either."

"I don't suppose there's anyway you would actually know who the father is," Nathan says looking irritated as he enters Brooke's bedroom. Turning around she seems to look surprised by his accusation.  
"You are, I already told you that."  
"Yeah, but you also told Lucas that too."  
"Oh," she says knowing very well that she has been caught. "Well I was drunk when I slept with Lucas. He was the one that made the moves on me that night."  
"I'm really suppose to believe that? The last time I checked he didn't have any interest in you in that way."  
"Well sometimes things are different then they seem."  
"Something tells me that he was the one drunk and that you took advantage of him," he says knowing that him and Lucas were almost complete opposites when it came to most things.

"Maybe I should wake them up. I'm sure he'd be half confused as hell," Jen says joking around.  
"Yeah and he'd probably never speak to me again."  
"Apparently you really have something for him, which is sort of a surprise. You've never been really serious about any guy before."  
"We're just friends right now though," Peyton says looking a little unsure of how her friend will take that.  
"You were always really easy to read. Seriously though, he doesn't look like a bad boy to me. I'm usually really good at calling them too."  
"He's done something that's not the greatest, but I don't consider him a bad boy."  
"Uh huh," Jen says taking Peyton's comment in. "You're so in love with him. Otherwise you would consider him one."  
Blushing a little Peyton looks away feeling rather embarrassed. This was the first time she had been so willing to overlook something when it came to a guy and Jen knew it. Usually she wouldn't let any guy, even her father sometimes, off the hook for even smaller things. It was different with Lucas in a way that even had alarmed her best friend.  
"I really am getting soft."  
"Yeah, and you know what?"  
"It's okay…?" Hoping that was what Jen was going for she looked at her with pleading eyes.  
"Exactly, and we're going to make sure he knows what he's gotten himself into."  
"Please don't do what I think you're going to do."  
"Get up," Jen yelled as she jumped onto the bed. Waking up seemingly instantly Lucas looks at her confused. As Haley opens her eyes she looks at her sister's friend knowing exactly what was going on. Getting up from the bed Haley walks over to Peyton quietly laughing. "Now let's get this straight mister. I know your type and Peyton's my best friend in the world. So if you so as much as break her heart into a million pieces I'll come looking for you. Do you hear me?"  
"Yes," he says looking up at her and then over her shoulder at Peyton. Mouthing 'sorry' to him Peyton knows that it's not what he had hoped at all to wake up to.  
"Good, then we won't have any problems getting along."

Making his way into the kitchen at his house Nathan is surprised to find his mother there preparing lunch considering that she didn't stay there that much anymore. Usually he'd have an attitude towards it, but today he felt he needed her. She was bound to be the less judgmental towards him out of his two parents. It had been that way as long as he could remember.

"Can I ask you something?"  
"Yes," Deb says looking up at him.  
"How did you know that keeping me and staying with dad was the right thing to do?"  
"I was in love. If I had to go back now and do it all over again I would still keep you."  
"You wouldn't stay with dad though if you did it all over again?"  
"To be honest I wouldn't. It's hard to live with a man that loves someone else and regrets choosing to stay with you when he could have been with her."  
"Yeah," he says looking down knowing what she's talking about. That was always what she used against Dan when the two of them were fighting lately. "So you think that a guy should only stay with a woman if he won't regret it?"  
"Yes Nate that's how I feel."

"Is she always like that?"  
"Yeah," Peyton says half laughing. "Sorry, it's just that I'm so use to her doing it and all of that. She's just very protective of her friends."  
"I can understand the need to be protective like that, but couldn't she have found some other time to do it? Like possibly when I had been awake for awhile."  
"Well Jen always did like a good sneak attack."  
"Great," Lucas says not looking relieved even the slightest bit.  
"Relax, we'll be back in Tree Hill soon enough."  
"So what are you going to do about the Adam situation?"  
"I'm going to do what I do best," she says smirking.

"Hey," Brooke says finding Nathan shooting hoops out in his driveway. Turning around as the ball goes in the hoop, he turns around to find Brooke standing there with suitcases in hand. "I'm sorry for not telling you about Lucas, I really am."  
"You're parents kicked you out?"  
"Yeah, apparently it's still a disgrace for a girl to get pregnant when she's an unwed teen."  
"I suppose you could stay here then," Nathan says knowing there was a good chance the baby was his.

Finding Adam making out with the same girl down at the local party house that night Peyton walks over to them. "I don't think we've met," she says turning to the girl. "I'm Peyton, and you're…"  
"…Adam's girlfriend. Do you have a problem with that?"  
Spotting part of a tattoo of Adam's name right down near the top of the girl's jeans she got a good idea of what type of girl she was. "Oh, how long have the two of you been going out?"  
"A good two years now," the girl says as she reaches up and French kisses Adam.  
"So you were two timing my sister, mister?"  
Half choking on his own saliva he pulls away from his girlfriend. He seemed shocked that he had gotten caught which entertained Peyton. It was actually funny in a way, and yet sad in another.  
"I really can explain," he says in an attempt to beg.  
"I don't need an explanation. You clearly weren't getting something from Haley and you just couldn't keep it in your pants. So you found this skank and got in hers. It's not rocket science Adam."

"Are we alright?" Looking over at Nathan as they stand in his bedroom Brooke has tears starting to form in her eyes.  
"Not really, I'm just letting you stay here because I know I could be the father."  
"Like I said before I'm sorry."  
"It's just hard to accept that," Nathan says trying to keep calm. "The fact that you don't know who the father is just makes it that much harder."

"Let's get going," Peyton yells as she makes her way into the hotel room. Looking up at her half confused Haley wonders why they can't stay longer. Knowing what Haley's thinking Peyton knows what she has to say. "Trust me, it's for your own good."  
"You went and talked to him didn't you?"  
"I wouldn't say we talked too much. He was making out with his girlfriend of two years most of the time."  
Left speechless Haley's jaw drops. Coming out from the bathroom, Lucas walks over to his things and gets ready to leave. Finally finding something to say Haley starts to open her mouth to talk. "I can't understand why he would do that to me."  
"He just couldn't wait to do it."  
"Oh," Haley says looking truly disappointed. Looking over at Lucas she can't help but look at him in a judgmental way.  
"Hey, I'm not like that and you know that. I've never done what he did to you."  
"Yeah, lay off of him would you?"  
"I'm sorry." Looking away slightly sheepish Haley knows that Lucas is right, there was a difference.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Welcome to your nightmare for the rest of the school year. This project will count as your final for this class…" Looking over at Lucas during the class Haley knew what was coming and felt a little weird. "You will be paired up with a partner to play out the parts of a couple that's considering getting married." What if she got paired with Lucas? Wouldn't that be weird? "Now since I don't want you picking out your own partners I will assign you to your partners based on where you are seated."  
Glancing around Haley really was starting to fear the possibilities of her possible partners. There was Ed which wasn't all that bad, but she got the feeling that they'd completely clash in every way while working on the project. Then there was Albert which she knew would pay too much attention to the mathematical side of the project.  
"Girls turn to your right." Doing so Haley turns to face Jake. _He would do just fine for this project._ "The guy that you see will be your partner for this project… and no, you can't change partners."  
"Ugh, I get stuck with Scabby Scott," one of the girls in the class groans. Scott Reynolds turned red as the girl said that causing everyone to turn around to see who she was talking about. None of them had called him that nickname in years and apparently forgot who it referred to.

"What a gentleman," Brooke says looking over at Nathan half shocked. She couldn't believe that he was actually carrying her books or that anyone other than her was at that. Spotting Bevin walking near by she grabs her by the arm. "Hey Bev, check out my gentleman."  
"Hi Nate! So did you see who we got to join the squad?"  
Looking uncomfortable knowing exactly who Bevin meant he decided to play dumb for once. He knew that if he didn't Brooke wouldn't be happiest in the least. "No I didn't."  
"Well that girl Peyton, the new girl, decided to join. I think she's going to be a great captain."  
Turning red Brooke grabs Nathan by the arm and drags him down the hall with her as she storms off. "They couldn't even pick some one that's well suited for it," Brooke says turning to look at him. "I mean, what does she know about cheering? All she knows is how to come into our school and act like she owns it."  
"That sounds like a good start to being a good captain."  
"Yeah, maybe for me. She on the other, it doesn't work for her."  
"Okay," he says realizing he said something wrong. "No one's a better captain than you."  
"I know, and I can't believe they thought they could ever replace me."

"So how many kids would you like to have?"  
"I think five would be good," Haley says smiling, proud of herself. Looking at her strangely Jake wondered why she would want to have that many, but he decided he was better off not asking.  
"See, I always thought two or three would do it for me."  
"How about four then?"  
"Alright," he says realizing that she's taking this project very seriously. "Four it is then."  
"You know what? This is kind of fun."  
"Fun, now that's surprising."  
"Hey," she says interlocking her arm with his. "It could be worse. We could be discussing getting a divorce." Laughing a little he knew what she meant.  
"Maybe we should hang out some time outside of school in order to get to know each other better. It couldn't hurt the final product of the project."  
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea."

Walking over to Lucas in the gymnasium before practice Peyton smiles at him. "I hope you're going to give me some inspiration to cheer today," she says tilting her head to the side.  
"I can't promise anything, but I'll try to."  
"Well I guess if you don't I'll have to find someone that will."  
"In that case, just do what the rest of the cheerleaders do." Leaning in towards her he smirks. "Just check me out while I'm going down the court," he whispers in her ear. Starting to walk away from him towards where the rest of the girls are gathered. Turning around she looks him over.  
"Yeah, that should do the job."  
Laughing slightly he watches her as she finishes walking over to her squad. Looking back at him her smile drops a little. Turning to face the rest of the girls once again she claps her hands together to get their attention.

"So what has you fixing yourself all up?"  
"Nothing," Haley says slipping on one of her dressier shirts on over her head.  
"Sure, and the last time I checked the last time it took you this long to get ready to go out was when… hmm… you were going out with someone."  
"That doesn't mean that's the reason this time."  
"Well I'm pretty sure you're not doing all of it just to hangout with Lucas," Peyton says giving her a look. "And you're certainly not doing it to go see Nathan."  
"Alright, I'm getting together with Jake tonight. We're hanging out to get to know each other better since we're doing a project together."  
"You're apparently treating it as if it's a date."  
"Yes," she says knowing that she's been caught by her sister. "Can you really blame me? He's really nice… and hot. It's not that easy to find someone like that."  
"True, and you can't have Lucas."  
Laughing together they fall down onto the bed on their backs. Putting out their arms they reach for one another's hands. Looking over at one another they laugh a little more. Rolling over onto their stomachs they rest their heads on the pillows on the bed.  
"Just make sure you take a CD along just incase," Peyton says looking over at her. "You know… you two kiss."  
"Oh so I wasn't suppose to make out with Nathan, but it's okay to do so with Jake?"  
"In all fairness, Jake wasn't the one that bumped into me the first day of school and acted like he didn't give a care."  
"True," Haley says propping herself up on her shoulder. "You know now I have to touch up my hair."  
"Take your time, it won't hurt if you make him wait."  
"Peyt! You're a bad influence."  
"I don't recall encouraging you to go out with Nathan," she says reminding her sister.  
"Again, true…"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"I don't remember agreeing to this," Haley says as her and Jake pull up by a club in town. "We're not even old enough to get in."  
"We aren't, but they'll let me in. All I have to tell them is that you're with me and they'll let you in."  
"What kind of deal do you have set up with these people?"  
"They let me and a guest in free of charge as long as I play a set," he says smiling at her happy that he's sharing this with her. "What can I say? Their regular crowd really likes my stuff." Looking at him in disbelief Haley can't believe what she's hearing.  
"Wait, you're a musician?"  
"Yeah, Luke kind of got me to play a few songs of mine at the café last year for open mic night and it's kind of taken off from there."  
"He really is a good friend."

"Now, this is my favorite view."  
Turning around in surprise, Peyton throws Lucas a dirty look. Grabbing her robe off of the bathroom door she throws it over the cheerleading outfit that she had just finished putting on. "You do know how to knock right?"  
"And miss seeing those little flowered panties?"  
"Get out now!"  
"Come on," he says walking over to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's not like I hated what I saw." Looking a little sheepish she relaxes her previously tense body. Going to kiss her she places her index finger up as his lips near hers just in time to stop him from kissing her.  
"We shouldn't do that."  
Looking into her eyes and backing away he knows what she means. Turning away and walking over to her bed he sits down and hangs his head. Rubbing the back of his neck he knows that he messed things up.

Watching on as Jake starts to play his set Haley notices how the audience is reacting to his music. It was kind of strange to see them all swaying back and forth while he played. Then a little feeling started to come about her, a feeling of jealousy. She wasn't jealous of the audience, she was jealous of Jake being up there in front of them and making them sway. Haley couldn't help but want to be up there instead of him at that moment.  
Coming up to her one of the waitresses bends over a little to talk to her. "You know if you want to go up there and sing a couple songs we could probably fit it in."  
"Me… oh… no, I don't have anything written or even close to being prepared."  
"Well, maybe you could prepare something with Jake then for the next time he does a set here."  
"Just curious," Haley says getting a bit suspicious. "What exactly is your position around here?"  
"Technically I'm just a waitress, but my dad's the owner. I could easily get him to go for it."  
"I'll think about it then."  
"Good," the waitress says turning to walk away. "You really look like you wanted to be up there."

"So this is awkward…" Peyton says browsing through her records stored in the closet. Getting up from the bed he walks over to just inside the closet. Turning to face him she leans up against the shelves of records slightly. "I guess it's hard for us to be just friends."  
"Well… maybe we don't have to be just friends."  
"What about Brooke and the baby?"  
"I could still be there for them if need be and be with you," Lucas says leaning back against the doorway. "I need to be with you Peyt."  
"Luke! You've already made it clear that you wanted to be with her if the baby was yours," she yelled at him. "So don't go saying that you're going to do otherwise!"  
"So I changed my mind, big deal."  
"No, you don't just change your mind when it involves me!" Crossing her arms she looks down right irritated with him. "Just go, just go and get the hell out of my house!" Looking at her, not taking her seriously he makes her even angrier. "Get the hell out!"  
Seeing her face start to turn red he figures that she's dead serious. As she goes to reach for something behind her, he couldn't tell what it is, he turns to leave the room. "Alright," he says turning around momentarily with his hands up in surrender. "I'll leave already."

Slowly walking up to the house, after leaving the car parked at the curb, Jake puts his arm around Haley and she looks up at him. "I really had fun at the club. Why didn't you ever tell me you were a musician though?"  
"It's not something I like to brag about."  
"Well I wouldn't blame you for doing so," she says cuddling up close to him as they continue to walk. "Even I'm jealous."  
"You're jealous?" Looking down at her in disbelief he wonders why she would even be jealous.  
"Yeah, I've been dreaming about being a singer for years. I never have had the nerves to get up on stage though and there you were up on stage singing and playing your guitar."  
"Maybe we could work on doing a duet then," he says bending down and kissing her on the lips as he turns to face her. Kissing him back she leans into it and puts her arms up around his shoulders and neck. Lifting her up slowly off of her feet he puts both of his arms around her snuggly. Resting her head on his shoulder she kisses the base of his neck lightly.


End file.
